Talking Texas

Aug 26, 2015 04:56PM
● Published by Dia

If you’re a legislator and you really want to know
what’s on constituents’ minds, just go door to door
and ask. That’s what Giovanni Capriglione does. As
the State Representative for Southlake and surrounding
areas, block walking is one of his favorite ways to stay
connected to the community.

Capriglione has some extra time to be out ringing
doorbells and chatting with citizens now that the 84th
Texas legislative session is in the books. For 140 days
from January 13 to June 1, 2015, all 150 members of the
Texas House of Representatives were in session, debating
hot-button issues such as education and taxes.

On a sunny day in June, we caught up with Capriglione
at Keller Town Hall, which is where he works when he’s
not in Austin. Everything in his office emanated state
pride – from the giant Texas flag behind his desk to a
smattering of historic Texas photographs on the walls.

Capriglione serves approximately 175,000 residents in
House District 98, which includes Southlake, Keller, Colleyville, Grapevine and Westlake, along with portions of
Haslet, North Ft. Worth and Trophy Club.

He has always had a passion for politics, although his
path to becoming a State Representative is as winding as
a Texas country road.

After earning a degree in physics, Capriglione worked
as an electrical engineer designing computer chips. He
then attained an MBA in finance and went to work for a
private equity firm, eventually branching out on his own
to manage various private equity funds through his company, Texas Adventure Capital.

He recalls 9/11 as the turning point he needed to get
involved in politics. “That was the first big moment for
me,” he says. “I felt that I had to get more engaged in the
political process.”

Capriglione ran for State Representative in 2010, but
was not elected. It didn’t take long for him to get back
on his feet. In November 2012, he was elected with more
than 85 percent of the vote and was sworn into service
in January 2013. He was re-elected for a second term in
November 2014.

“As you start to get involved in the political process,
you realize you’re doing it all for the people,” Capriglione
says. “Everything we do is for Texans.”

In this most recent legislative session, Capriglione
served on three committees: Appropriations, Investments
and Financial Services, and Local and Consent Calendars.

On the Appropriations committee, Capriglione helped
manage the state’s $210 billion budget. On the Investments and Financial Services committee, he handled a
variety of bills related to banking, securities and credit.
And on the Local and Consent Calendars committee,
Capriglione had the opportunity to vote yes or no on
bills, deciding whether or not they move on.

“By serving on these committees, I was really able to
help our local communities,” he says.

Better Education for Texans

Capriglione was also part of an ad hoc work group
committee that focused on the formulas relating to how
school financing happens.

“Texas is so varied. The needs of our district are different than other districts,” he says. “In our area, we want to
make sure we focus on education and education financing. I moved to Carroll ISD for the schools [Capriglione
has three young daughters], and I know many other
people did as well. It’s important for me as a legislator to
keep this in mind when I go to Austin.”

Carroll ISD is ranked the top district in the state of
Texas, according to SchoolDigger, which ranks schools
based on test scores provided by the Texas Department
of Education.

Though the Dragons enjoy a promising educational
landscape, education isn’t flourishing in all parts of
the state. To help promote quality education throughout Texas, Capriglione pushed for higher standards for
teachers and more accountability for schools.

“There are multiple ways to become a teacher, and I
felt that the barrier to become a teacher through a certification process was too low,” says Capriglione.

He filed a bill that will increase the standards necessary to complete the teaching certification program in
Texas. Capriglione also filed a bill that will create a pre-K program that helps mostly foster kids, homeless children, and kids of active-duty military parents.

If we can get quality education to children at the earliest age possible, the benefits compound quickly,” he
says. “It’s going to be an impactful tool here in Texas to
be able to give kids a head start on their education.”

When it comes to testing, Capriglione aimed to ease
the pressure on students by reducing end-of-course
exams from 15 to seven. “We found that we were putting
kids in a box,” he says.

“They may be super bright, but they just
don’t do well on tests.”

The classroom isn’t the only focus when
it comes to education reform; Capriglione
worked to create additional training for
high school counselors, making them better prepared to help students determine
their career paths. “This requires a different
skill set,” he says.

Creating a future that’s bright for young
Texans is important to legislators – and
the funds back up this commitment. “We
spend the most amount of money on education,” says Capriglione.

Texas schools spent an average of
$9,559 per student last school year,
according to figures compiled by the
National Education Association.

Capriglione works hard to create a
better Texas for young people for a
variety of reasons. For starters, he has
three daughters: Cristina, Helen and
Natalie. And, he simply enjoys volunteering with kids. Capriglione is a former
Odyssey of the Mind coach, and he often
visits Government 101 classes to teach
students the voting process.

“Kids are our future, and any opportunity
I have, I get involved with them,” he says.

Keeping Texas Strong

Economic development was another
key issue of Texas’ 84th legislative session.
With nearly 1,000 people moving to Texas
every day, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau, Capriglione aims to ensure that our
area is an attractive place to work and live.

“We want to make sure this area remains the hotbed of economic development and vibrancy,” he says. “We vote on so many bills, but for me,
and most of legislature, jobs is job number one.”

Texas is in constant competition with other states and other countries when it comes to attracting new businesses. But in this legislative
session, Capriglione and other legislators made the Lone Star State
a whole lot more appealing by slashing the Gross Margins Tax by
25 percent.

Most corporations in Texas pay this business tax, and those with more
than $1 million in revenue will see their business taxes reduced by a
quarter.

“Ultimately, I hope we’ll be able to cut the Gross Margins Tax completely,” Capriglione says, “but I’m glad we got rid of a fourth of it.”

This session, Governor Greg Abbot and Texas Speaker of the House,
Joe Straus, received the first award from the Texas Enterprise Fund to
bring the Kubota Tractor Factory to the city of Grapevine. The move is
expected to bring nearly 400 new jobs to Texas and $51 million in capital
investment.

Additionally, Texas legislators eliminated fees for 16 different professions such as architects and real estate agents. “Many professionals have
to pay a fee to have a license and work,” says Capriglione. “Though it’s
not technically a tax, I call it an income tax because if you have to pay
money to go have a job, then it’s effectively that.”

residents of the Lone Star State. But Capriglione
isn’t resting on his laurels; he’s out knocking on doors, getting to the
heart of what matters most to the people of Texas.

“There will always be issues coming up, so we’ll be constantly gather ing the needs and suggestions of constituents to be able to address it
in the next session,” he says.

Although, when you’re fortunate enough to live in Southlake, the
needs often aren’t many.

“When I was going door to door, one voter said, ‘What issues could
we possibly have? We live here,’” Capriglione says. “I love every part of
Texas, but the quality of life in Southlake is second to none. I’m glad to
call it home.”